Trump reportedly told Palestinian leadership he plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake during then visit to the Israel museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017.

source

AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

President Donald Trump reportedly told Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas that he intends to move the US embassy
to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

An aide to Abbas stated that if Trump recognized
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which is a separate but
related issue, the Palestinians would cut off relations with
the US.

Several US allies had previously advised Trump against
recognizing Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel, and
after today's report, Abbas said moving the embassy would have
"dangerous consequences."

President Donald Trump reportedly
told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he will
move the US embassy to Jerusalem, breaking with decades of US
policy and potentially igniting opposition across the region.

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Abbas reportedly told Trump the move would have "dangerous
consequences" for the region, according to
CNBC.

Trump intends to announce whether he would recognize Jerusalem as
the Israeli capital this week, the New York Times
reported last week, but it was reportedly unlikely he would
move the embassy itself. Trump's reversal on the issue comes amid
mounting criticism from Turkey, Jordan, France, and Saudi
Arabia, which have all advised the president against recognizing
Jerusalem as the capital, according to CNN.

It was unclear if Trump said when he planned to move the US
embassy.

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One of Abbas' aides said on Tuesday that if Trump goes forward
with the recognition, the Palestinian Authority would cut off all ties
with the United States, according to Haaretz. Another senior PA
official, Nabil Shaath, made grim predictions about the apparent
future of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations if Trump makes
good on his promise.

"The mother of all the deals dies here on the rocks in Jerusalem
if he says tomorrow that he recognizes a united Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel," Shaath said.

The Gaza Strip-based Palestinian group Hamas, which is considered
a terrorist organization by Israel and the US, called for
Palestinians to rise up in response to the "conspiracy."

Moving the embassy, which currently sits in Tel Aviv, to
Jerusalem has been one of Trump's longtime
campaign promises. It is also a position Israeli President
Benjamin Netanyahu has
endorsed, stating that the move would not endanger the peace
negotiations.

"It will correct a historic injustice by advancing the [peace
process] and shattering a Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem
isn't Israel's capital," Netanyahu said in May.

Trump had
previously signed a waiver in June delaying moving the
embassy, just as every US president has done every six months
since 1995.